For almost 60 years after their deaths, three men whose courageous actions shortened World War II and saved uncounted lives remained virtually unknown. Following a sea battle on October 30, 1942, Lieutenant Francis Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier, and underage canteen assistant Tommy Brown of HMS Petard swam to the sinking U-559 seeking intelligence materials. In the captain's cabin they found codebooks, which Brown carried to the surface as the sub went down. Fasson and Grazier drowned, never knowing they had discovered the key to cracking Germany's improved Enigma cipher machine (and though Brown, only 16, survived, he died two years later trying to save his sister from a house fire). All three received posthumous medals—silently, to avoid alerting the enemy—for their deed. Here Phil Shanahan tells of the remarkable bravery of these three men, kept quiet all those years ago for reasons of national security, in the incident that inspired the film U-571.